System, a method and a computer program product for communication

ABSTRACT

A system for communication, the system including: (a) an interface configured to receive detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; (b) a content manager configured to selectively retrieve from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; (c) a messages integration module configured to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and (d) a transmitter configured to transmit the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Israeli patent application serial number 213739 filing date Jun. 23, 2011.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to systems, methods, and computer program products for communication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

United States patent application serial number US20100841776 discusses a system and method for providing sale information including electronic coupons to a mobile wireless electronic device based on current location of the mobile wireless electronic device in relation to retail locations. The selection and communication of the sales information including electronic coupons to the mobile wireless electronic devices may also be made at least in part based on pre-defined preferences associated with a consumer associated with the mobile wireless electronic device.

PCT Application serial number WO/2011/014413 discusses a system and method for providing sale information including electronic coupons to a mobile wireless electronic device based on current location of the mobile wireless electronic device in relation to retail locations is described. The selection and communication of the sales information including electronic coupons to the mobile wireless electronic devices may also be made at least in part based on pre-defined preferences associated with a consumer associated with the mobile wireless electronic device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system for communication, the system including: (a) an interface configured to receive detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; (b) a content manager configured to selectively retrieve from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; (c) a messages integration module configured to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and (d) a transmitter configured to transmit the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.

The detector may be located in an entry area of the physical site which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities may be accessed.

The content manager may be configured to selectively retrieve the content irrespective of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.

The content manager may be configured to selectively retrieve the content further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The content manager may be configured to selectively retrieve the content further based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

The messages integration module may be configured to insert content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.

The transmitter may be configured to transmit the message as a short messages service (SMS) message to a cellular telephony device.

The detector may be a radio frequency (RF) detector which is operable to detect and identify the portable identification object which includes an RF identification (RFID) tag.

The system may further include a transactions authorization module that is configured to receive from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and to send to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction.

The system may further include an analyzing module configured to collect transaction generating entity related information which is based on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities, and which is further based on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.

The transmitter may be configured to transmit a human legible message.

A method for communication, the method including: (a) receiving detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; (b) selectively retrieving from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; (c) generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and (d) transmitting the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.

The receiving may include receiving the detection information from the detector that is located in an entry area of the physical site which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities may be accessed.

The selective retrieving may be carried out irrespective of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.

The selective retrieving may further be based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The selective retrieving may further be based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

The selective retrieving may include selectively retrieving from the database a commercial offer of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The generating may include inserting content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.

The method may further include receiving from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and sending to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction.

The method may further include collecting transaction generating entity related information which is based on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities, and which is further based on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.

The generating may include generating a human legible message.

The method may further include retrieving content of an associated entity associated with the physical area which is not one of the transaction generating entities, wherein the generating includes generating the message which includes the content of the associated entity.

The receiving may be preceded by causing a detector by a client to identify the portable identification object thereby causing one or more components of a system to carry out the receiving, the selective retrieving, the generating, and the transmitting.

A tangible storage device readable by machine, having a computer readable code tangibly embodied therein for communicating, the computer readable code including instructions for: (a) receiving detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; (b) selectively retrieving from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; (c) generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and (d) transmitting the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.

The instructions for receiving may include instructions for receiving the detection information from the detector that is located in an entry area of the physical site which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities may be accessed.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving the content irrespectively of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving further based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving from the database a commercial offer of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The instructions for the generating may include instructions for inserting content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.

The computer readable code may further include instructions for receiving from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and instructions for sending to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction.

The computer readable code may further include instructions for collecting transaction generating entity related information which is based on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities, and which is further based on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a communication system and a physical site, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods for communication, according to various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a message which is sent to the client, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a communication system and a physical site, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a portable identification object, according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a screen of a web interface which may be used by a client to insert client preferences, according to an embodiment of the invention.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

In the drawings and descriptions set forth, identical reference numerals indicate those components that are common to different embodiments or configurations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing”, “determining”, “generating”, “configuring”, “selecting”, or the like, include action and/or processes of a computer that manipulate and/or transform data into other data, said data represented as physical quantities, e.g. such as electronic quantities, and/or said data representing the physical objects. The term “computer” should be expansively construed to cover any kind of electronic device with data processing capabilities, including, by way of non-limiting example, a personal computer, a server, a computing system, a communication device, a processor (e.g. digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.), any other electronic computing device, and or any combination thereof.

The operations in accordance with the teachings herein may be performed by a computer specially constructed for the desired purposes or by a general purpose computer specially configured for the desired purpose by a computer program stored in a computer readable storage medium.

As used herein, the phrase “for example,” “such as”, “for instance” and variants thereof describe non-limiting embodiments of the presently disclosed subject matter. Reference in the specification to “one case”, “some cases”, “other cases” or variants thereof means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment(s) is included in at least one embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter. Thus the appearance of the phrase “one case”, “some cases”, “other cases” or variants thereof does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment(s).

It is appreciated that certain features of the presently disclosed subject matter, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the presently disclosed subject matter, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

In embodiments of the presently disclosed subject matter one or more stages illustrated in the figures may be executed in a different order and/or one or more groups of stages may be executed simultaneously and vice versa. The figures illustrate a general schematic of the system architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter. Each module in the figures can be made up of any combination of software, hardware and/or firmware that performs the functions as defined and explained herein. The modules in the figures may be centralized in one location or dispersed over more than one location.

FIG. 1 illustrates communication system 200 and physical site 100, according to an embodiment of the invention. Physical site 100 includes multiple transaction generating entities 120, and possibly also one or more other transaction generating entities 130. The one or more other transaction generating entities 130 are irrelevant for the operation of communication system 200, and are illustrated for exemplifying a situation in which some of the transaction generating entities that are included in physical site 100 do not participate in any way in the processes discussed below.

The physical 100 site may have well defined bounds (e.g. if it is a building, its bounds may be the outer walls of the building. In some other examples it may be a floor of a building, a street, a road, a yard, and so forth). In other implementations, the bounds of physical site 100 may be loosely defined. Essentially, the physical site 100 is large enough to include all of the relevant transaction generating entities 120.

In an example, physical site 100 may be a mall, and the transaction generating entities 120 within it may be different businesses or shops. In other examples in which the transaction generating entities 120 are businesses, the physical site may be a street, a pedestrian mall, a village, etc. In yet another example, the physical site 100 may be a hospital, and the transaction generating entities 120 may be the offices of the different hospital departments, with which patients should interact. In another example, the physical site 100 may be an airport, and the transaction generating entities 120 may be different airline companies, wishing to provide both commercial data (e.g. a flight to Paris at a given price) and other data, possibly to people other than potential clients (e.g. the flight from Rome will land 5 hours after the scheduled arrival time). Clearly, in some implementations, not all of the transaction generating entities 120 may be of a single type; continuing the hospital example, some of the transaction generating entities 120 may be such offices, while others may be commercial businesses. It should be noted that while the term “transaction generating entity” is used, such entities would often be generating many transactions, and not just a single one.

The physical size of physical site 100 may vary greatly between different implementations of the invention. For example, the physical site 100 may have a projected floor area of hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of squared meters and possibly even much more (e.g. area of 2 km by 2 km), and likewise its height may also vary greatly between different implementations. While not necessarily so, the size of physical site 100 may host multiple numbers of people at one time.

While not necessarily so, the transaction generating entities 120 may occupy within physical site 100 respective physical sizes which enable multiple numbers of people to enter each of the transaction generating entities 120 at one time. For example, entities such as shops or offices allow for multiple numbers of people to be served simultaneously. However, other types of transaction generating entities 120 do not necessarily comply with this condition—for example, a vending machine may also be a transaction generating entity 120.

Different types of transaction generating entities 120 may generate different types of transactions, and even a single transaction generating entity 120 may generate more than one type of transaction. Some possible types of transactions that may be generated by different types of transaction generating businesses 120 are: commercial transactions, information transactions, transactions of services, and so forth.

It should however be noted that generally, the transactions of one transaction generating entity 120 are unrelated to the transactions of any of the others transaction generating entities 120. It is noted that in some instances, transactions that involve more than one transaction generating entity 120 may take place (e.g. two shops in a mall may make a sales offer that combine in a single price for the client, commodities from the two shops), but usually such multi-entity transactions are the exception, and furthermore such transactions would usually also involve transactions between the two (or more) transaction generating entities 120.

A detector 310 is located in physical site 100, having its detection zone 140 also within physical site 100. Detector 310 (and/or its detection zone) may be located in an entry area of the physical site 100, which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities 120 and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities 120 may be accessed. For example, if physical site 100 is a building (such as a mall), then the detector 310 may be located near a door or an entrance of the building. Detector 130 may also be positioned in other areas of physical site 100, and especially in areas thereof which are positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities 120 and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities 120 may be accessed (e.g. a central lobby, etc.).

It should be noted that in other implementations, detector 310 may be located outside the physical area 100—e.g. in proximity thereof. For example, if the physical area 100 is a second floor of a mall, the detector may nevertheless be positioned at an entrance to the mall.

It should be noted that system 200 may be included in the physical area, but this is not necessarily so. Additionally, system 200 may be controlled and/or managed by an entity associated with physical area 100 (e.g. management of the mall) and/or in the possession of such an entity, but this is not necessarily so. Such an associated entity may also control and/or manage only aspects of system 200 which pertain to physical area 100 (e.g. if system 200 manages multiple physical areas 100). Additionally, such an associated entity may provide its own content (which may or may not pertain to the transaction generating entities of the physical area 100) which may be included by system 200 in the messages sent to the portable computer.

Referring to FIG. 2, as can be seen, more than one detector 130 may be positioned in the physical site 100. For example, if physical site 100 has more than one entrance, then a detector may 130 be positioned near each of these entrances. As can also be seen in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more of the transaction generating entities 120 (e.g. the transaction generating entity 120 denoted “shop 120(1)”) may be located so that it is not accessible from any of the detection zones of the one or more detectors 130. However, since this transaction generating entity 120 is located in the same physical site 100, it may be beneficial to utilize system 200 nevertheless.

The transaction generating entities 120 of FIG. 2 are denoted “shop 120”, and the physical area 100 mainly includes two streets—denoted High St. and Market St. The commercial implementation in which all or most of the transaction generating entities 120 are shops or other businesses having a physical location in the physical site 100 (e.g. offices, etc.), is but one possible implementation which will be frequently referred to when exemplifying some of the possible variations of the invention below. It should however be noted that, as aforementioned, the invention is not limited to commercial implementations in any way.

Assuming that most of the transaction generating entities 120 in the physical site 100 are of similar type (e.g. shops or other businesses), it may be assumed that many people come to the physical site for a shared purpose. For example, most people come to malls in order to shop. Therefore, many of the people who come to the physical site 100 already have a mindset focused toward shared characteristics of multiple transaction generating entities 120 in the physical site 100.

System 200 may be used for transmitting messages to people who are in the physical site 100—when those people are likely to be interested in transacting with one or more of the transaction generating entities 120. These messages may include content by any one or more of the transaction generating entities 120 in the physical site 100.

By way of example, when people enter a mall, they enter a shopping-inclined environment, likely with intent to purchase commodities or services from the businesses and shops of the mall. Such businesses and shops may regard the people entering the mall as potential clients whose shopping inclined mindset makes a desirable audience for commercially oriented messages. In another example, when people enter a highway, they are most likely more interested in information regarding traffic and gas stations along this highway, as compared to people watching TV at home.

System 200 may be utilized for sending to clients messages which are relevant to them at times in which those messages are relevant—when such clients are in the physical site 100. While the clients may be any clients of the physical site 100 (e.g. the mall) or of any of its transaction generating entities 120 (e.g. the shop therein), some or all of the client may belong to an otherwise identifiable group. For example, the clients may be the clients of a loyalty program, wherein such client may have loyalty program cards which may serve as the portable identification objects.

Detection information which is indicative of detection by detector 310 of a portable identification object 410 in its vicinity is sent from detector 310 to a server 210 of system 200, which may then operate in response to send a respective message. The portable identification object 410 is usually a lightweight object which may be carried by a person on a regular basis, such as a credit card sized card, a bracelet, a cellular phone, etc.

Various detection technologies may be implemented for the detection and identification of portable identification objects 410 by detector 310. For example, detector 310 may be a radio frequency (RF) reader, while each of the portable identification objects 410 may include RF identification (RFID) tags. In other examples, detector 310 may detect portable identification objects 410 by Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, magnetic card, etc.

Server 210 includes an interface 211 (illustrated in FIG. 6) which is configured to receive detection information indicative of detection of a portable identification object 410 in a vicinity of detector 310 that is located in physical site 100 that includes multiple transaction generating entities 120. Conveniently, the detection information further includes identification information identifying that portable identification object 410 is among other portable identification objects 420 (which may be associated with accounts of other clients).

One or more interfaces 211 may be implemented in server 210 for receiving detection information in cases where more than one detector 310 sends detection information. Such multiple detectors 310 may reside in the same physical site 100, or in distinct and possibly remote physical sites 100.

Server 210 further includes a content manager 212 configured to selectively retrieve from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities 120, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object 410. A messages integration module 213 of server 210 is configured to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and a transmitter 240 of system 200 (which may or may not be included in server 210) is configured to transmit the message to a portable computer 420 associated with the client account (e.g. a cellular phone carried by the client, a lap-top computer, etc.).

More details on system 200 are provided below. FIG. 3A is a flowchart illustrating method 500 for communication according to an embodiment of the invention. It is noted that method 500 may be implemented by system 200, and that the different variations and implementations of method 500 discussed below may be also implemented by system 200, even if not explicitly elaborated, and vice versa.

Method 500 includes stage 510 of receiving detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities. Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 510 may be carried out by a server such as server 210, and especially by an interface such as interface 211.

It is noted that the vicinity in which the detector detects such portable identification objects may depend on the type of the detector and its mode of operation, on the environment in which it is operating, and may be selected based on the requirements of the implementation. For example, a detector used for detecting identification objects carried by people passing through a mall entrance may be limited for detecting such objects within a distance of some 10 meters, while a detector used for detecting identification objects carried by people (or other objects such as cars) entering a street or a highway may be capable and possibly limited for detecting such objects within a distance of some 30 meters. In order to detect people only in shared areas of the physical sites (e.g. only in entrance areas) and not in other areas (e.g. in central areas or in areas belonging to the distinct transaction generating entities), the detection distance may be limited—e.g. under 10 m, under 30 m, under 50 m, or under 100 m.

The receiving may be implemented in various ways—e.g. over a wireless connection, over a cable connection, over a direct connection, over a network connection, and so forth. As aforementioned, the detection information may explicitly include identification information identifying the specific portable identification object (e.g. the RFID including card carried by the client) among other issued portable identification objects (which may be of the same or other type—e.g. portable identification objects of some of the other clients may be RFID tags included in their cellular phones).

It is noted that while the term client and its derivatives (e.g. client account) are used to describe the entity that enters the physical site and in response receives a message including content of various transaction generating entities 120, that entity is not necessarily a customer (or potential customer) of any commercial commodity or service, and other implementations may have no relation to client-service provider. For example, the entity referred to as “client” may be a tourist visiting a foreign city and who seeks information regarding historical sites of the city, a student who enters a school and receives information regarding cancelled courses, status of computer lab and so on, or a worker who enters his workplace and receives information from the different departments of the workplace such as HR, his professional manager, and maintenance.

Additionally, while the entity referred to as “client” is a person in many illustratory examples below, in other implementations the client may be a non-human entity such as an animal or a man-made object. For example, this entity may be a car or a navigation unit installed in a car, which automatically receives messages regarding gas stations, parking places and traffic updates when entering a new town.

It is noted that in some implementations, the identification of some or all of the clients is not implemented by detecting portable identification objects carried by such clients, but rather by identifying the clients themselves. Identification of people may be implemented in many ways, a plurality of which are known in the art, such as for example fingerprint identification, face recognition, iris recognition, voice recognition, etc. In such implementation, the detection information received in stage 510 is indicative of detection of a person in the vicinity of the detector which is located in the physical site.

Stage 520 of method 500, which is optionally carried out after stage 510 thereof and possibly in response to the receiving of stage 510, includes selectively retrieving from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object. Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 520 may be carried out by a server such as server 210, and especially by a content manager such as content manager 212. The database from which the content of the at least one transaction generating entity is retrieved may be, for example, database 220. The client account and/or the client preferences may be retrieved, for example, from database 230.

In different implementations of the invention, different types of content may be provided by the different transaction generating entities. For example, if the transaction generating entities are businesses or shops, the content may be a commercial offer (e.g. promotions, sales, loyalty program information, etc.), special announcements (e.g. changes in working hours), an advertisement or a slogan, etc.

In another example, in transaction generating entities which are governmental offices, the content may pertain to working hours, obligations of the visitors and documents required, etc. It will be clear to a person who is of skill in the art that the diversity of the types of content that may be provided by different types of transaction generating entities is very large, and that other types of contents would readily suggest themselves to transaction generating entities and to other implementations of the invention.

Especially, the types of content that may be provided by transaction generating entities are such which the respective transaction generating entity would like a potential client or potential visitor to receive when she is near the transaction generating entity, and possibly in a mindset in which she is attentive to such content.

The client preferences of different client accounts may be actively selected by the client prior to the selective receiving, and possibly when the client is not present in the physical site. For example the client herself may enter her preferences into a dedicated website, e.g. using an interface providing multiple-selection options to choose from. It is noted that the client preferences are not necessarily selected by the client herself, and may be selected—at least in part—by other entities such as a supervisor (parent, teacher, employer), a commercial entity (e.g. the management of a mall or a credit card company, based on prior transactions), etc.

While stage 520 may be carried out after the detection of stage 510—and possibly in response thereto—this is not necessarily so. In other implementations, the selective retrieval of content in response to the client preferences (and possibly also the generation of a message based on that retrieved content in stage 530) may be carried out at a timing which is independent of the detection itself. For example, in one possible implementation, a message is generated for the client account (and possibly for several or all of the client accounts) before each business day begins, so it can be instantly transmitted to the client (e.g. to a portable computer of the client) without requiring any real-time processing, thus expediting the transmission process, and preventing undue burden on the message generation module when there are a lot of clients entering the physical site in parallel. In such an implementation, some of the messages generated may not be transmitted—e.g. if the client did not enter any physical site to which he registered on the day the message was generated. Even if a message is generated at a timing unrelated with respect to the detection, it may be updated or modified in response to the detection, e.g. as exemplified below.

Apart from the selective retrieving of content of in stage 520, method 500 may also include retrieving content of entities other than transaction generating entities. For example, additional content which may be retrieved is content of an associated entity that is associated with the physical site. Such additional content retrieved may be processed in the following stages of method 500, even if not explicitly elaborated. For example, the generating of stage 530 may include generating a message which further includes the content of the associated entity. The retrieving of content of such entities may or may not be based on client preferences of the client account associated with the portable identification object.

Examples of such content include security messages or promotional content of management of the mall in which the physical area is included. The retrieved content of such an entity—such as mall management, by way of example—may pertain to some or all of the transaction generating entities. For example, the mall management may send promotional information regarding one or more of the transaction generating entities, and/or a commercial offer which is valid in more than one of the transaction generating entities.

Stage 530 of method 500, which is carried out after stage 520 thereof, includes generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content. That message may include some or all of the retrieved content of the at least one transaction generating entity and possibly also updates to this content (e.g. as exemplified below) and/or content which is unrelated to any of the transaction generating entities (e.g. a time stamp, a logo of the messages providing company, and so forth). Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 530 may be carried out by a server such as server 210, and especially by a messages integration module such as module 213.

The generating of the message may include further selecting of the content—e.g. based on criteria other than the client preferences (e.g. message total length, prior transactions history of the client, destination display device capabilities, and so forth). It may also include updating content of one or more of the transaction generating entities and/or combining content from multiple sources into a single message. The message generated may be of different types. E.g. it may be a text message, a video message, an audio message, a multimedia message, a coded message, an uncoded message, and so forth. If there is no relevant content to transmit to the client at the time, a message may optionally be nevertheless generated, indicating that fact (e.g. “there are currently no offers that match your definitions. Have a good day!”).

Stage 540 of method 500, which is carried out after the generating of the message in stage 530, includes transmitting the message to a portable computer associated with the client account. It is noted that the transmission does not necessarily result from the generating of the message, but it nevertheless results—either directly or after a chain of processes—from the detection of the portable identification object. Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 540 may be carried out by a transmitter such as transmitter 240.

It is noted that the portable computer may be any portable electronic device carried by the client—e.g. a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a Bluetooth enabled portable device, and so forth. While the portable computer may be (or may be integrated with) the portable identification object—e.g. if the portable identification object is a smart phone identifiable by Bluetooth communication—this is not necessarily so, and these two items may very well be separate entities. For example, the portable identification object may be a plastic card with RFID tag and a magnetic strip, while the portable computer is a cellular phone. Also, the transmitting of stage 540 may include transmitting the message to the portable computer which is carried by the client in the physical area. Message routing parameters required for the transmitting of the messages to the portable computer (e.g. cellular telephone number, pager contact information, Bluetooth association code, etc.) may be stored in the client accounts database (e.g. database 230) and associated therein with the client account.

As aforementioned, in stage 540 the message that is being transmitted to the portable computer (e.g. of the client) is generated based on the client preferences. Since the client preferences are usually determined at least in part based on selections deliberately made by the client (e.g. using a dedicated website), the message is only sent to clients who wish to receive them. Optionally, all clients have to register and possibly also to pay a subscription fee in order to be eligible for receiving such messages. Thus, the transaction generating entities may know that their content is only being transmitted to clients who wish to receive such content—upon an explicit (or implicit) selection of the client (e.g. by defining her client preferences)—when they are relevant to the client. This may give such transaction generating entities a substantial commercial benefit (or non-commercial, for other types of transaction generating entities).

FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating method 501 for communication according to an embodiment of the invention. It is noted that method 501 may be implemented by system 200, and that the different variations and implementations of method 501 discussed below may be also implemented by system 200, even if not explicitly elaborated, and vice versa.

Method 501 is a variation of method 500, wherein the retrieving of the content from the database, the generation of the message and its transmittal to the computer associated with the client account are not carried out in response to any detection information which indicates detection of any object that is associated with the client, but are rather triggered based on time-based decision rules. The one or more time-based decision rules may include timing that is relevant to one client, or to more than one client.

Method 501 does not include stage 510, and stage 520 is replaced by stage 580 that includes selectively retrieving from the database, based on client preferences of the client account, content of at least one out of the multiple transactions generating entities that are located in the physical site. Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 580 may be carried out by a server such as server 210, and especially by a content manager such as content manager 212. The database from which the content of the at least one transaction generating entity is retrieved may be, for example, database 220. The client account and/or the client preferences may be retrieved, for example, from database 230.

It is noted that while not necessarily so, in such an implementation server 210 and/or content manager 212 may possibly not be configured to receive detection information which is indicative of a detection of any portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector.

In method 501, the time of the transmitting of the message to the portable computer in stage 540 depends on the fulfillment of at least one time-based decision rule associated with a client account. This may be achieved, for example, by triggering the selective retrieving of stage 520 in response to the fulfillment of the at least one time-based decision rule that is associated with the client account, by triggering the generating of the message in stage 540 in response to the fulfillment of the at least one time-based decision rule that is associated with the client account, and/or by triggering the transmitting of message in stage 550 in response to the fulfillment of the at least one time-based decision rule that is associated with the client account.

Such time-based decision rules may be implemented for example in order to transmit to the portable computer a daily message with content selected in response to the client preferences. For example, such time-based decision rules include initiating the retrieval of the content and the generation of the messages at 07:00 am, and transmitting the message at 08:00 every week day (not including weekends). The one or more time-based decision rules may be based on times selected by the client (e.g. as part of the client preferences), or in response to times selected by the client. For example, if the client wishes to receives a message each day at 09:00, the time-based decision rule for the execution of the retrieval of stage 580 may be set to 08:40.

It should be noted that the selective retrieving of the content may be based also on information of the one or more transactions generating entities, such as the client-targeting preferences thereof.

It is noted that apart from stages 510 and 520, method 501 may include any of the other stages of method 500, including those discussed below in relation to FIG. 4. Statements referring to method 500 as a whole as well as those pertaining to its various stages therefore apply also for method 501 (with the exception of statements which, when applied to method 501, would contradict the above description of method 501).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating method 500 for communication according to an embodiment of the invention. Further variations and possibilities regarding various implementations of method 500 are discussed with relation to FIG. 4.

Regarding the receiving of stage 510, it is noted that the receiving may include receiving the detection information from the detector that is located in an entry area of the physical site which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities may be accessed.

The receiving may include receiving the detection information from one detector out of multiple detectors deployed in the physical site. In such a case, following stages of method 500 may depend on the specific detector of the physical site from which the detection information was received. For example—when the client enters a mall, she may receive the same message regardless of her specific entry location (assuming that the detectors are deployed in all of the entrances of the mall). However, in another example, if the client enters through entrances of the mall located in its underground parking lots, the client may receive information regarding parking rates the client would not receive if entering the mall as a pedestrian from the street. Especially, the selection of content of the transaction generating entities of the physical site that ought to be selectively retrieved may depend on the specific detector of the physical site from which the detection information was received, but in some embodiments the selection may be totally independent of the specific detector.

It is noted that in some implementations, detectors may be deployed in multiple physical sites, having different transaction generating entities deployed in each of them. In such case, the selection of content (and possibly additional stages of method 500) do depend on information identifying the physical site to which the detection information pertain. For example, when the client enters a given mall, the client will receive content of businesses residing in that mall, and not in other malls, streets, or hospitals. If some businesses have representations in more than one physical area (e.g. fashion chains or fast-food restaurant chains), their content may be dedicated to a specific branch located in a given physical area, or may be shared by multiple branches. Nevertheless, information regarding such a business will only be presented, according to such implementations of the invention, when the portable identification object is detected by a detector located in a physical area in which that business is represented.

Furthermore, in different implementations, the receiving may include receiving the detection information from detectors of different types. For example, the receiving may include receiving the detection information from a radio frequency (RF) detector which is operable to detect and identify the portable identification object which includes an RF identification (RFID) tag (either passive, semi-active or active RFID tag, depending on the implementation). Other types of detectors may detect, for example, Bluetooth communication, magnetic signature, barcode, GPS, WiFi, biometric, and so on.

Method 500 may also include stage 512 of receiving client preferences from a remote computer (whether a client computer, a remote server, a personal computer, a cellular phone, etc.). The client preferences may pertain to a wide variety of topics. The client preferences may pertain to specific transaction generating entities, to types of transaction generating entities, to groups of transaction generating entities, to types of content to be received, to preferred formatting of the received message (e.g. text/images, preferred language, etc.), and so on.

The client may define the client preferences prior to his entering the physical site, and usually in a much lesser frequency. For example, the client may update the client preferences twice or thrice a year, but enter one of his preferred physical sites (e.g. several malls)—and consequentially receive messages—several times a month, or even on a daily basis.

The client does not have to update his client preferences from the physical site. In but a few examples, the client may update those preferences from home—using a dedicated webpage interface, or even from any location in which there is a wireless Internet connection. The client may do so by sending a message (e.g. e-mail, SMS), by calling a consumer service representative, and so on.

Reverting to the example in which the client who carries the portable identification object enters a mall or other shopping-inclined physical area, and receives a message including content of various shops of the mall. The client may select several specific shops in each of one or more malls which are of interest, and may choose several additional topics which are of general interest—e.g. fashion, hunting, and optometry. The utilization of client preferences (either selected by the client and/or otherwise) may be used for sending to the client a message with content of transaction generating entities which is focused on the client's needs, desires, and/or consumption habits, and thus to greater efficiency as well as client satisfaction.

Additionally, the client may optionally be provided with a selection of types of content she would like to be included in messages sent to her—and possibly also types of content she would prefer to be excluded. For example—the client may want to receive content pertaining to discounts in fashion stores only of this discount exceeds 40%, receive any offers from coffee shops of the mall, and not receive any information pertaining to items which are sold all year long. Other options which may be presented to her are selection of preferred language, selection of preferred maximal messages size, selection of frequency of updates (e.g. a person who works in the mall may only want to receive messages regarding fashion once a week, but messages relating to food on a daily basis).

It is noted that the receiving of stage 512 may also include—in addition or instead of the reception of the client preferences—information which may be used for generation of client preferences. For example, the client may indicate her age, and definitions matching for her age group may be added automatically to her client preferences, even though not indicated by the client. Likewise, the client may indicate the type of the portable computer used for the receiving of messages, and suitable formatting definitions may be automatically added to her client preferences.

Stage 520, which includes selectively retrieving from the database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object, is carried out after stage 510 and possibly also after stage 512.

It is noted that stage 520 may be preceded by stage 514 of determining whether to continue with the process, depending on information associated with the client account. For example, the determining of stage 514 may be responsive to information regarding whether another message was sent to a client computer associated with the client account in the past 24 hours or previously on the same day (or other predetermined time span). In this example, when the client leaves the physical site (within 24 hours from entering the same), the client will not receive another message, nor will the client receive another message if the client returns to the same physical site frequently in a single day. This may be used to prevent transmitting to the client (possibly overwhelmingly so) multiple, redundant, and/or undesired messages.

The client may also choose, for example, that she doesn't want to receive messages before 4 pm or on Sundays, etc. In another example, the determining of 514 may be responsive to whether the client has paid her monthly fee or not. Generally, the determining of stage 514 may or may not depend on client preferences, and especially may or may not depend on client preferences determined based on information received from the client.

It should be noted that determining to not continue with the process may also be made at a later time—e.g. if it is determined that no suitable content is available to be sent to the portable computer at the time of query. While stage 514 is illustrated as preceding stage 520, it may also be implemented at a later stage in the process—possibly after the selective retrieving.

As noted above, the selective retrieving is carried out in response to the detection information which is indicative of the detection of the portable identification object in the vicinity of the detector, which, as aforementioned, is located in the physical site. While further information regarding location of the client other than the detection information sent by the detector (e.g. GPS information) may be integrated into the system, this is but one option.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the selective retrieving of stage 520 is carried out irrespectively of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities. In such an embodiment the content which is selected and sent to the client is only selected based on an indication that the client is in the physical site as a whole. The selection of the content is not affected by proximity of the client to any of the specific transaction generating entities or even entering into specific spaces such as specific shops in the mall. Additionally, according to such an implementation, no further messages are sent to the client after sending such a first message.

The selective retrieving of the content in stage 520 may be preceded by stage 516 of retrieving from a client account database the client preferences which are later used in stage 520. Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 516 may be carried out by a content manager such as content manager 212, and/or by a client accounts database manager, such as module 251.

It is noted that the client database may be combined with the content database from which the content is retrieved in stage 520. These two databases may be stored on the same one or more physical storage media, but this is not necessarily so and at least partly different storage devices (such as hard-drives, flash-memories, remote-network-storage, etc.) may be used for storing of the different data.

As aforementioned, different types of content of transaction generating entities may be retrieved during stage 520, depending for example on the type of transaction generating entities (e.g. commercial or not). For example, the selective retrieving may include selectively retrieving from the database a commercial offer of the at least one transaction generating entity. The commercial offer may be, for example, a discount on a specific item or on a group of items, a time-limited offer (e.g. an offer for reduced price coffee valid for the next hour), an offer to join a loyalty program, and so on.

The selective retrieving may also be based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account (denoted 522). For example, a business may want to offer new potential clients of the business a one-time offer which will not be repeated at later instances.

The selection of content in stage 520 may be preceded by stage 518 in which information is received from various transaction generating entities, or from computers associated therewith. This information may include the content which is used for the generation of the message, and may also include additional content such as client targeting preferences.

Conveniently, information may be received in stage 518 from all of the transaction generating entities, the content of which may be included in the messages that are transmitted to portable computers associated with the various client accounts.

The receiving of information in stage 518 may be implemented in different ways such as, for example, over a wireless connection, over a cable connection, over a direct connection, over a network connection, and so forth. A representative entity of a transaction generating entity (whether a human representative or a computerized system) may enter preferences in a dedicated website, e.g. using an interface providing multiple-selection options to choose from. The information pertaining to a transaction generating entity in the physical site which is part of a group of transaction generating entities (e.g. a fast food chain) may be received from a central entity of the group and may optionally pertain to members of the group in more than one physical site.

It will be clear to a person who is skilled in the art that information of different transaction generating entities may be received at different times, and that even information of a single transaction generating entity may be received in multiple sessions and not at one time. The receiving of stage 518 may also include receiving of updates to information already provided, and not necessarily transmission of a stand-alone content.

Reverting to stage 520, on top of the client preferences, the selective retrieving may further be based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity (denoted 524), which may be received, for example, in stage 518.

For example, businesses may be interested in providing a certain content to mall visitors who are younger than 25, and other content to visitors who are older than 45. Likewise, businesses may be interested to deliver dedicated content to visitors of the mall who previously spent in that business over $1,000 in the previous two months, or even who spent a similar amount on fashion items in the mall (not necessarily at the same shop). As will be discussed below, information regarding past purchases of the clients may be gathered for example, if completing a transaction between the client and one of the transaction generating entities (e.g. purchasing of an item in that shop) is facilitated by authorization related to the client account (e.g. authorizing to give a discount if identifying the client at the cash register). Clearly, a wide variety of other possible client targeting preferences may be received, and the examples offered above are of illustratory nature, and do not encompass the various different options.

Reverting now to stage 530 of generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content. It is noted that not all of the content retrieved may later be used for the generating. For example, ultimately, the size of the message sent to the portable computer is usually limited. Therefore, some of the content retrieved may be ignored or decimated in order to fit into the predefined maximal size.

The generating may include multiple stages and may be implemented in various ways. The generating may include selecting content—out of the content of the transaction generating entities which was retrieved in stage 520 and possibly also from additional content which is unrelated to the transaction generating entities (e.g. logo, client account status information, etc.).

While the generating of the message may include using content of the transaction generating entities directly as provided by those entities, it may also include modifying and/or updating this content. For example, the generating may include stage 532 of inserting content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account, or on other information. This inserting, modifying and/or updating may be carried out based on additional information and/or conditions inserted by the respective transaction generating entity, but this is not necessarily so.

For example, the content provided by one of the transaction generating entities and which was retrieved in stage 520 may include a statement indicating that a given item is on sale, and that it may be purchased in the next two hours at a reduced price. However, the exact reduced price which will be offered to a specific client may be determined at a later time (e.g. by a content manager such as content manager 212) based on one or more parameters such as the purchasing history of the client, the age of the client, the day of the week, etc.

According to an embodiment of the invention, such modifying, inserting, and/or updating may be based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

The generating may also include formatting the message based on information associated with the client account. For example, the formatting may be responsive to display capabilities of the target portable computer, to preferences of the client, to the communication medium over which the message is intended to be transmitted to the client, and so forth. The formatting may also include determining an order in which content of different transaction generating entities will be presented in the message, and so forth.

The message is ultimately transmitted to a portable computer (which may be carried by the client). The message itself, however, may or may not be legible by humans. The generating may include generating a human legible message. For example, if the message is a text message (such as an SMS message) or a message combining text and one or more images or sounds (e.g. an MMS message), it may be generated as a human legible message. In some implementations, the message should be decoded by the recipient portable computer which may then translate it to human legible form and in yet other implementations the message itself is at least partly illegible to humans (e.g. if this is an update data to an application running on the recipient portable computer).

Reverting to stage 540 of transmitting the message, it is noted that the transmitting may be implemented in various ways—depending on various factors such as capabilities of the transmitting system, capabilities of the recipient portable computer and so forth. If the recipient portable computer is a cellular phone, the transmitting may include for example transmitting a short messages service (SMS) message to the cellular telephony device. Continuing the same example, the transmitting may alternatively include transmitting a multimedia message (MMS). Optionally—a single message generated in stage 530 may be transmitted in stage 540 in multiple messages—e.g. multiple SMS messages—that may later be combined in the receiving portable computer into a single message.

Other options for transmission are transmitting of an e-mail, a voice message, a voice call, an application update, and so forth. While the transmitting may include transmission of a wireless message, other implementations in which a message is transmitted to another computer in a wired manner may also be implemented. For example, stage 540 may alternatively include transmitting the message to a stationary computer which is installed in the physical site (possibly near the detector). For example, in one possible implementation the client is identified by a fingerprint reader connected to a computer in the mall, and the message which includes content selected, based on her client preferences, is displayed on a screen connected to the same computer.

FIG. 5 illustrates a message 601 which is sent to the client, according to an embodiment of the invention. The illustrated example is an SMS message, but as aforementioned this just one of the possible implementations. For the sake of example, it is assumed that the company who sends the message is named “@Mall” and that the specific physical site to which the client entered carrying the portable identification object is named “Sea-Mall”.

Reverting to FIG. 4, in which additional optional stages 550, 560 and 570 are illustrated. As aforementioned, the relation with the client or with associated devices does not necessarily have to end with the sending of the message. An identifiable object carried by the client (e.g. the portable identification object, the portable computer, or another object) may be identified by a transaction generating entity with which the client wishes to transact (especially if the client wishes to proceed with a transaction offered in the message sent to her portable computer, e.g. as exemplified in FIG. 5).

According to an embodiment of the invention, method 500 may include stage 550 of receiving from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and sending to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction (possibly following an identification and/or authentication of the client, after determining that the client is entitled to complete the transaction). The computer of the transaction generating entity may be a cashier-line computer (e.g. a cash register or anther cashier-environment system), but this is not necessarily so. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 5, if the client wishes to purchase in GAP clothing at a 30% off discount, this purchase may be conditional on paying with a credit card which is the portable identification object.

This may serve for different ends. For example, only clients of the message transmitting company may have a 1$ coffee, and not everybody in the mall. Also, if the offer is a time-limited offer, then identifying the client prior to the purchase may assist in validating that the client is entitled to the reduced price. If indeed the payment is with the credit card which is also the portable identification object, then this may assist in enhancing in the client mindset the connection between the message-sending company and the discount to which the client was entitled.

It is noted that the identification of the portable identification object by a computer of the transaction generating entity may be implemented in ways other than the detection of the same object by the detector. For example, even if the detector wirelessly detected the portable identification object of the client when the latter entered the physical site, the identification in the register-line of a given shop may be used by reading a magnetic strip or a barcode on the same object (e.g. a credit card including an RFID tag), or using the credit card number and possibly additional identification information.

Method 500 may also include stage 560 of collecting transaction generating entity related information pertaining to any of at least one of the transaction generating entities, wherein each piece of such information may pertain to one or more of the transaction generating entities. Referring to the examples of other drawings, stage 560 may be carried out by a server such as server 210, and especially by an analysis module such as analysis module 270.

It is noted that in different implementations, the transaction generating entity related information collected may be based on different parameters. For the transaction generating entity related information collected in stage 560 for any of the at least one transaction generating entities may be based at least on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining that transaction generating entity, and/or on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.

For example, a business (or a transaction generating entity of another type) may be interested in receiving information regarding questions such as—How many potential clients have requested to receive content which pertains to that business? What percentage of clients who registered to receive information regarding transaction generating entities of the physical site chose to receive content pertaining to that business? What kind of content did such clients wish to receive? (e.g. what types of sales? what range of discounts?) How many potential clients who received messages regarding a certain offer did ultimately chose to accept the offer and make a purchase in the business? What is the total revenue which resulted from transaction initiating in content delivered to potential clients in such messages? How many potential clients chose franchises of a given chain in different physical sites? How many potential clients canceled a previously made selection for content of a given transaction generating entity or chain (indicating disappointment)? How many clients who are interested in a transaction generating entity, or in the physical site in general, entered the physical site at any time (e.g. a graph of entrance)? How many potential clients who received content of a given transaction generating entity did not ultimately enter the shop and/or did not ultimately make a purchase, and how many did? and so on.

Stage 560 may be followed by stage 570 of transmitting transaction generating entity related information to a computer associated with a respective transaction generating entity. The computer may reside in the physical site space of the transaction generating entity, but this is not necessarily so. The transmitting may be implemented by the same transmitter that is used for the transmitting of stage 540 (e.g. transmitter 240), but this is not necessarily so, and another transmitter may also be used (e.g. by TGE oriented communication module 280).

It is noted that the collecting in stage 560 may be carried out in multiple instances, and in different timing with respect to other stages of method 500 (e.g. before, at least partly concurrently, or after any one of stage 510, 520, 530, 540, and 550).

Since many parties may benefit from the transmission of such messages including content determined by the transaction generating entities to clients when the latter are in the respective physical site, fees or other forms of payment may be charged from one or more such party. In but a few examples, some of the parties from which revenues may be collected as transaction generating entities are businesses, governmental bodies, local municipalities, gift cards providers, museums, tourism sites, HMOs, etc.

Method 500 may include a stage of determining a charge for at least one of the following entities: one or more of the clients, one or more of the transaction generating entities, an entity in charge of the physical site (e.g. a mall management), and possibly updating a commercial database with the determined data. Method 500 may also include a stage of transmitting to such an entity (or to a computer associated therewith) a payment message that requests payment for the services rendered. The charge requested may be responsive to the amount of messages sent and/or to their content, but this is not necessarily so (e.g. the client or the mall may be required to pay a fixed monthly fee, while the different businesses of the mall will be required to pay on a per-message basis).

It should be noted that method 500 may include a stage of bringing the portable identification object near the detector, thereby enabling (possibly even causing) the detector to detect and/or identify the portable identification object. Such a stage may be carried out before stage 510 of receiving the detection information, wherein stage 510 may be a result of the herein discussed stage.

This stage may be carried out by the client who carries (or otherwise holds) the portable identification object. The client may also otherwise cause the detector to detect and/or identify the client (e.g. by placing a palm next to an optical sensor of the detector, pushing a button, saying a phrase, and so on) and/or the portable identification object (e.g. placing that object within a designated slot of the detector).

Generally, the client may bring the portable identification object near the detector or otherwise cause the detector to detect and/or identify the portable identification object, and thereby the client may cause one or more components of a system such as system 200 to receive detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; to selectively retrieve from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and to transmit the message to a portable computer associated with the client account. In causing the detector to detect the portable identification object the client may also cause that system to carry out additional actions, e.g. such actions corresponding to any one or more of the disclosed stages of method 500.

Regarding method 500 as a whole, and especially regarding the sequence of stage between stages 510 and 550, it is noted that while method 500 was described as resulting from the detection of a single portable identification object, in many implementations these stages may be repeated for multiple detections of multiple portable detection objects in the same physical site—e.g. for many visitors to a mall on the same day (possibly at the same time)—wherein a personally matching message is sent to each one of them. While identical messages may be sent to more than one portable computer at similar times, this is not necessarily so and in many instances, different messages are likely to be sent. Different instances of a single stage of method 500, when carried out resulting from detection of different portable identification objects, may or may not be carried out at least partly concurrently, depending on the specifics of the implementation.

It is noted that the executing of at least some of the stages of method 500 for a second client may depend on the result (or on intermediate stages) of its execution for a first client. For example, if a business instructs to offer a certain item at a large discount for only 200 clients, then if the first client receives the 200^(th) respective message, the second client would not receive that content even if it matches the client's preferences.

Method 500 was represented above from a technical viewpoint. From a commercial point of view, the following stages may be followed (either by implementing method 500 or otherwise):

1. Receiving preferences of the client regarding what kinds of marketing data (or other data from transaction generating entities which may or may not be of a commercial type) the client wishes to receive;

2. Receiving from various transaction generating entities marketing data (or other content that such an entity wish to transmit to at least some of its potential consumers), e.g. from shops of the mall. As noted above, marketing data or other content may also be received from other entities, e.g. entities associated with the physical area or supervising entities supervising one or more aspects associated with the physical area (e.g. the police);

3. Identifying the client when entering the physical site (e.g. the mall) using a portable identification object carried by the client, such as a cellular phone or RFID tag. The detection/identification occurs during or just before the time when the client is likely to be interested in receiving shopping offers (or other types of content, depending on the content and, for example, the orientation of the physical site). It should be noted that the identification of the client (or at least of the portable identification object) may be used not only for the purposes of method 500, but also for other purposes. For example, in many businesses, employees are identified by a time-clock and/or by an electronic gate control, and such identification may be used for the purposes of method 500;

4. Selecting specific content (e.g. marketing data) out of all of the potential data of the transaction generating entities in response to the client's preferences (and potentially also according to preferences of one or more of the transaction generating entities); and

5. Wirelessly transmitting to a portable computer (e.g. a hand-held device such as a cellular phone) of the client a message containing at least part of the marketing data or the other selectively retrieved content. This message is potentially transmitted to the client when the client is in the physical site, and most attentive to such content.

Apart from the commercial and other benefits of transmitting to the client the message that includes content which both the client and some transaction generating entities have interest of its transmittal at that time—when the client is most attentive to such content and when it may most affect her transaction related decisions pertaining to those transaction generating entities, other beneficial results may also be obtained, such as:

6. Collecting data which pertains to client preferences of multiple clients (target audience of these transaction generating entities), to the content transmitted to those clients, and to the actions of the clients regarding such content, and providing this data to the respective transaction generating entities, possibly subject to the payment of a fee.

Such a method may also include:

7. Authorizing to a computer of one of the transaction generating entities to carry out a transaction in response to identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object. Such authorization may stipulate the benefiting of the client by utilizing an item not associated with the specific transaction generating entity but rather by a provider of the messages service.

Reverting now to FIGS. 1 and 2 in which implementations of communication system 200 are illustrated, according to embodiments of the invention. FIG. 6 also illustrates system 200 according to an embodiment of the invention.

As aforementioned, system 200 is a system for communication which includes server 210 which includes an interface 211 which is configured to receive detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object 410 in a vicinity of detector 310 that is located in physical site 100 that includes multiple transaction generating entities 120. Conveniently, the detection information further includes identification information identifying that portable identification object 410 among other portable identification objects 420 (which may be associated with accounts of other clients). One or more interfaces 211 may be implemented in server 210 for receiving detection information in cases in which more than one detector 310 sends detection information. Such multiple detectors 310 may reside in the same physical site 100, or in distinct and possibly remote physical sites 100.

Server 210 further includes a content manager 212 configured to selectively retrieve from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities 120, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object 410. A messages integration module 213 of server 210 is configured to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and a transmitter 240 of system 200 (which may or may not be included in server 210) is configured to transmit the message to a portable computer 420 associated with the client account (e.g. a cellular phone carried by the client).

It is noted that the portable computer may be any portable electronic device carried by the client—e.g. a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a Bluetooth enabled portable device, and so forth. While the portable computer may be (or may be integrated with) the portable identification object—e.g. if the portable identification object is a smart phone identifiable by Bluetooth communication—this is not necessarily so, and these two items may very well be separate entities. For example, the portable identification object may be a plastic card with RFID tag and a magnetic strip, while the portable computer is a cellular phone.

It should be noted that while various modules and components are illustrated as implemented within server 210, this is not necessarily so, and any one or more of them may be at least partly implemented on a different one or more computers. Server 210, or any one of the computer implementing modules illustrated in FIG. 6 as implemented by server 210, may include at least one hardware processor that is operable to execute instructions for the implementation of the functionalities of the different modules. It is noted that some or all of the various modules may possibly be implemented as an independent hardware module. Various additional components which may be implemented and which are known to people skilled in the art are not illustrated. Such components may include, for example, communication interfaces, user interfaces, power supply, etc.

Especially, different means may be implemented to secure and protect the confidentiality of information stored in the databases, communicated (either within system 200 or externally to it), and/or processed. Many such means are known in the art, and more than one such mean may be implemented. For example, data may be encrypted, communication cables may be isolated, wireless communication may implemented, suitable schemes of frequency hopping, and so forth. Such protection means may be used to protect the privacy of the clients, the business secrets of the various transaction generating entities 120, sensitive data of the system, and so forth.

As aforementioned, detector 310 may be located in an entry area of the physical site 100 wherein the entry area is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities 120 may be accessed. An equivalent area may be any area of physical site 100 from which transaction generating entities 120 may be accessed.

Content manager 212 may be configured to retrieve the content of the various transaction generating entities 120 based on client preferences retrieved from a client accounts database 230 which may store information pertaining to client accounts, to clients, to computers and devices associated with the client accounts (and those associations themselves), etc. For example, clients accounts database 230 may store clients' details, clients' preferences, clients' history (e.g. pertaining to messages sent per each of the client accounts, content sent per each of the client accounts, detection of portable identification devices 410 per each of the clients accounts, transactions per each of the client accounts), parameters of devices associated with the different clients accounts, statistics involving more than single client accounts (e.g. statistics of the history saved for different client accounts).

The clients account database 230 may be managed by a client accounts database management module 251, which may be implemented as part of server 210 or externally to it. Information regarding client preferences may be entered by the clients (or other entities, e.g. as exemplified above) via an interface, such as clients web interface 291 (e.g. a dedicated website). Such an interface is not necessarily a web interface, and other types of interfaces may very well be implemented. The saving of client preferences, or other data received from clients, to the client accounts database 230 may be intermediated and/or managed by client accounts database management module 251, but this is not necessarily so.

Content manager 212 may be configured to retrieve the content of the various transaction generating entities 120 from a transaction generating entities (TGEs) database 220 (also referred to as content database 220). TGEs database 220 may store information pertaining to and/or provided by the different transaction generating entities 120 of one or more physical sites, pertaining to computers associated with those transaction generating entities 120 (and those associations themselves), etc. For example, clients accounts database 230 may store TGEs' details, TGEs' preferences, TGEs' related history (e.g. pertaining to content sent per each of the TGEs accounts, detection of portable identification devices 410 per each of the TGEs' potential clients, transactions per each of the TGEs, etc.), parameters of devices associated with the different TGEs, statistics involving more than a single TGE (e.g. statistics of the history saved for different TGEs), etc.

The TGEs database 220 may be managed by a TGEs database management module 252, which may be implemented as part of server 210 or externally to it. Information regarding preferences of a transaction generating entity 120 may be entered by representatives of that transaction generating entity 120 (or by other entities, e.g. as exemplified above) via an interface, such as TGEs web interface 292 (e.g. a dedicated website). That interface is not necessarily a web interface, and other types of interfaces may very well be implemented. The saving of TGEs preferences, or other data received from TGEs, to the TGEs database 220 may be intermediated and/or managed by TGEs database management module 252, but this is not necessarily so.

Similarly, physical sites related information storage database 254 may be implemented for storing information related to the one or more managed physical sites 100, and possibly received from representatives thereof. This database may be managed by a module such as physical sites database management module 253, which may operate similarly to TGEs database management module 252, mutatis mutandis.

TGEs database 220 (or another database) may also store content of additional entities apart from the TGEs, such as content of an entity associated with the physical site (e.g. management of mall, security department of a hospital, and so forth). Such content may be processed similarly to content of TGEs, but not necessarily so. For example, the retrieving of content of such entities may or may not be based on client preferences of the client account associated with the portable identification object. Such entities may enter content using an interface such as TGEs web interface 292, or via another interface.

Examples of such content include security messages or promotional content of management of the mall in which the physical area is included. The retrieved content of such an entity—such as mall management, by way of example—may pertain to some or all of the transaction generating entities. For example, the mall management may send promotional information regarding one or more of the transaction generating entities, and/or a commercial offer which is valid in more than one of the transaction generating entities.

It is noted that content manager 212 may be configured to selectively retrieve the content irrespective of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities 120.

Content manager 212 may also be configured to selectively retrieve the content further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity 120. Such preferences may be stored in TGEs database 220.

Content manager 212 may be configured to selectively retrieve the content—and/or to selectively modify or update that content—based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

As discussed in relation to method 500, messages sent in association with a given client account and which contain content that pertains to a single transaction generating entity 120 may include different content—even if no updates were made by the transaction generating entity 120 to its content stored in the TGEs database 220. For example, a client may receive a one-time offer for a relatively high discount (e.g. 60%), and if the client does not take advantage of this one-time offer, the next time a message with similar content is sent to him, the amount of discount may be lower (e.g. 33%).

Clearly, in different implementations, content manager 212 may be configured to selectively retrieve the content—and/or to selectively modify or update that content—based on any one or more parameters, such as previous transactions made by the client with the transaction generating entity 120 (or with other transaction generating entities 120), frequency in which one or more portable identification objects 410 associated with the client are detected in the physical site, content and/or messages sent to other clients, client preferences of the client and possibly also of other clients, client targeting preferences of a respective transaction generating entity 120 or of other transaction generating entities 120, stock level of promoted item (such information may be received from a computer associated with a respective transaction generating entity 120), and so on.

As further mentioned in relation to method 500, different types of content may be provided by the transaction generating entities 120 and retrieved from the database (e.g. database 230) by the content manager. For example, content manager 212 may be configured to selectively retrieve from the database a commercial offer of the at least one transaction generating entity.

Referring to messages integration module 213, which is configured to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content. The message may include the at least part of the retrieved content, and/or content generated based on the at least part of the retrieved content (and possibly also based on other sources of content). The generation may include compiling its content and may also include transforming it to a transmittable format (e.g. encoding it, transducing it to a modulated electrical signal, etc.).

Messages integration module 213 may be configured to further select content among the content retrieved by content manager 212. For example, messages integration module 213 may be configured to select content based on criteria other than the client preferences (e.g. message total length, prior transaction history of the client, destination display device capabilities, and so forth).

Messages integration module 213 may also be configured to update content of one or more of the transaction generating entities 123 and/or to combine content from multiple sources into a single message. In different implementations, messages integration module 213 may be configured to generate messages of one or more types, such as text messages, video messages, audio messages, multimedia messages, coded messages, uncoded messages, and so forth. If there is no relevant content to transmit to the client at the time, messages integration module 213 may be configured to generate a message indicating this fact.

Messages integration module 213 may be configured to generate messages in multiple stages and possibly in various ways. Possibly, messages integration module 213 may be configured to modify and/or to update content of transaction generating entities 120 before its inclusion in the message. For example, messages integration module 213 may be configured to insert content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity 120, based on information associated with the client account, or on other information. This inserting, modifying and/or updating may be carried out based on additional information and/or conditions inserted by the respective transaction generating entity, but this is not necessarily so.

For example, the content provided by one of the transaction generating entities 120 and which was retrieved by content manager 212 may include a statement indicating that a given item is on sale, and that it may be purchased in the next two hours at a reduced price. However, the exact reduced price which will be offered to a specific client may be determined at a later time by messages integration module 213 based on one or more parameters such as the purchasing history of the client, the age of the client, the day of the week, etc. According to an embodiment of the invention, messages integration module 213 may be configured to modify, insert, and/or update content in such a manner based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

Messages integration module 213 may be also configured to format the message based on information associated with the client account. For example, it may be configured to format the message in response to display capabilities of the target portable computer, to preferences of the client, to the communication medium over which the message is intended to be transmitted to the client, and so forth. The formatting may also include determining an order in which content of different transaction generating entities will be presented in the message, and so forth.

Transmitter 240 may be configured to transmit a message in one or more transmission techniques and according to one or more transmission protocols. For example, transmitter 240 may be configured to transmit the message as a short messages service (SMS) or as a multimedia message (MMS) to a cellular telephony device. Transmitter 240 may be configured to transmit a human legible message, but this is not necessarily so.

As mentioned above, detector 310 may use different technologies to detect the portable identification object 410. For example, detector 310 may be a radio frequency (RF) detector which is operable to detect and identify the portable identification object which includes an RF identification (RFID) tag.

System 200 may further include (e.g. as part of server 210, or as an independent unit) transactions authorization module 260 that is configured to receive from a computer of one of the TGEs 120 identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object (or possibly of another portable identification object carried by the client), and to send to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction. Thus, if the client wishes to execute a transaction that is suggested in the content provided by the transaction generating entity 120 in the message, she can authenticate herself as a recipient of that offer by having the portable identification object 410 detected in the premises of the transaction generating entity 120 (or otherwise by a computer of the latter). Information pertaining to this detection may then be transmitted to transactions authorization module 260 (e.g. over an Internet connection), which may then selectively authorize execution of the transaction.

Communication between the transactions authorization module 260 and computers of one or more of the transaction generating entities 120 (denoted 293) may be facilitated by one or more TGE oriented communication modules 280 (which may or may not be integrated with transmitter 240 and/or with interface 211).

System 200 may include an analyzing module 270 which is configured to collect transaction generating entity related information which is based on (a) client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities 120 and/or on (b) transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts, and possibly on other parameters (in addition to or instead of those).

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of portable identification object 410, according to an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated implementation, portable identification object 410 is a credit-card sized plastic card, including a RFID tag 411 (which may be an active, passive, or semi-active RFID tag) which is detectable by detector 310. Portable identification object 410 may further include a magnetic strip 412, a barcode (not illustrated), or another authentication means detectable by computers of one or more of the transaction generating entities 120. Portable identification object 410 may include other parts such as human legible identification means (e.g. written text, image, etc.), which may be used for identification of the portable identification object 410 by people.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a screen of the web interface which may be used by a client to insert client preferences, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of screen 801 of the web interface which may be used by a client to insert client preferences, according to an embodiment of the invention. Some of the client preferences which may be selected by the client include selection of one or more transaction generating entities (e.g. by selecting or unselecting a tickbox 803 associated with the transaction generating entity). The transaction generating entities may be grouped into groups or categories, wherein such groups or categories may have a tickbox 802 associated with them, for indicating a preference of the client to receive content that pertains to all fashion-inclined stores, for example. Other client preferences (e.g. selection of preferred language for received messages) may be indicated using other types of user interfaces such as pull down menus 804, free text fields, voice recognition, and so forth. Clearly, the illustrated screen 801 is merely one example of a possible implementation, and many other implementations, including other client preferences for example, may be implemented.

Reverting to method 500, it is noted that method 500 may be implemented by a computer readable code that is tangibly embodied in one or more tangible storage devices readable by machine. Such devices may be, for example, a flash drive, a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), cloud-based storage, etc. Such a storage device may be included as a part of system 200—or otherwise accessible to one or more processors used by the different modules of server 210 (and possibly also of other components of system 200), wherein those processors may be configured to execute instructions stored in the computer readable code stored in those one or more storage devices.

For example, a tangible storage device that is readable by machine is disclosed, the storage device having a computer readable code tangibly embodied therein for communicating, the computer readable code including instructions for: (a) receiving detection information indicative of detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; (b) selectively retrieving from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; (c) generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and (d) transmitting the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.

The instructions for receiving may include instructions for receiving the detection information from the detector that is located in an entry area of the physical site which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities may be accessed.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving the content irrespective of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving further based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.

The instructions for the selective retrieving may include instructions for selectively retrieving from the database a commercial offer of the at least one transaction generating entity.

The instructions for the generating may include instructions for inserting content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.

The computer readable code may further include instructions for receiving from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and instructions for sending to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction.

The computer readable code further includes instructions for collecting transaction generating entity related information which is based on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities, and which is further based on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.

The instructions for the generating may include instructions for generating a human legible message.

While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described above are cited by way of example, and various features thereof and combinations of these features can be varied and modified.

While various embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A system for communication, the system comprising: an interface configured to receive detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; a content manager configured to selectively retrieve from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; a messages integration module configured to generate a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and a transmitter configured to transmit the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector is located in an entry area of the physical site which is positioned outside any of the multiple transaction generating entities and from which any of the multiple transaction generating entities may be accessed.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the content manager is configured to selectively retrieve the content irrespective of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the content manager is configured to selectively retrieve the content further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the messages integration module is configured to insert content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector is a radio frequency (RF) detector which is operable to detect and identify the portable identification object which includes an RF identification (RFID) tag.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transactions authorization module that is configured to receive from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and to send to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction.
 8. The system of claim 1, further comprising an analyzing module configured to collect transaction generating entity related information which is based on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities, and which is further based on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit a human legible message.
 10. A method for communication, the method comprising: receiving detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; selectively retrieving from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and transmitting the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.
 11. The method of claim 12, wherein the selective retrieving is carried out irrespective of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.
 12. The method of claim 12, wherein the selective retrieving is further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the selective retrieving is further based on client history information pertaining to information previously transmitted to at least one portable computer associated with the client account.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating comprises inserting content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and sending to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising collecting transaction generating entity related information which is based on client preferences of multiple clients pertaining to one of the transaction generating entities, and which is further based on transmission of content of the transaction generating entity to portable computers associated with multiple client accounts.
 17. The method of claim 12, further comprising retrieving content of an associated entity associated with the physical area which is not one of the transaction generating entities, wherein the generating comprises generating the message which includes the content of the associated entity.
 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the receiving is preceded by causing a detector by a client to identify the portable identification object thereby causing one or more components of a system to carry out the receiving, the selective retrieving, the generating, and the transmitting.
 19. A tangible storage device readable by machine, having a computer readable code tangibly embodied therein for communicating, the computer readable code including instructions for: receiving detection information indicative of a detection of a portable identification object in a vicinity of a detector that is located in a physical site that includes multiple transaction generating entities; selectively retrieving from a database content of at least one of the transaction generating entities, based on client preferences of a client account that is associated with the portable identification object; generating a message based on at least part of the retrieved content; and transmitting the message to a portable computer associated with the client account.
 20. The tangible storage device of claim 24, wherein the instructions for the selective retrieving comprise instructions for selectively retrieving the content irrespectively of any additional location information of relative proximity of a client associated object to a proper subgroup of the multiple transaction generating entities.
 21. The tangible storage device of claim 24, wherein the instructions for the selective retrieving comprise instructions for selectively retrieving further based on client targeting preferences of the at least one transaction generating entity.
 22. The tangible storage device of claim 24, wherein the instructions for the generating comprise instructions for inserting content to the content of the at least one transaction generating entity, based on information associated with the client account.
 23. The tangible storage device of claim 24, wherein the computer readable code further comprises instructions for receiving from a computer of one of the transaction generating entities identification information indicative of identification of the portable identification object, and instructions for sending to the computer an authorization to conduct a transaction. 